20 mi, a Random Occurrence, and a Big Smile :-)

A racist person might avoid him.
Any other person might feel sorry for him.
I was his friend at Giant Eagle grocery store on Cedar-Fairmount.

He was my height, skinny, and had a face of black leather. His round cheekbones peaked prominently from his emaciated face. Other notable features were his alert beady eyes and a smile with four front teeth missing, the rest rotted and ill-formed, indicating a past of insufficient hygeine and vitamin-deficiency. His Giant Eagle uniform was too baggy, discolored, and had visible dust and dirt stains steaked about. His English was poor. He looked like he could be anywhere between the age of 40 and 60.

"Miss, you need help findin anythuhn? You alright?" was the line that acquainted us two years ago. I had smiled at him and said I was doing okay. "You have a purdy smile, miss! Just lemme know if you need anythuhn!"

That particular Giant Eagle was the grocery store I had shopped most frequently. Every time I saw him, I'd wave and flash a smile. Eventually, instead of "miss," he started addressing me with "mah friend" and inquired how I was doing with life and school. He'd always start the greeting with "Hi Mah Friend! Good to see you, mah friend!" He'd always end the conversation, which only lasted about five minutes, with "Good to see you, mah friend! You always make my day, seeing you, mah friend! Come back again and see me, my friend!" His beady eyes would gleam and his toothless smile would light up his face.

One day, Giant Eagle had put up a sign saying that the store was closing. Dave's Supermarket was to replace it. As I was shopping there, I saw him but this time his countenance was very different than the perky smiling one I was familiar with. "They are moving me, mah friend. I be no longer workin here. They movin me to another location. [He named the location but it was some place I was not familiar with.] You come visit me, mah friend. I be very happy to see you." Feeling a pang of sadness, I instantly became awkward. I told him I'd see him but deep down, I knew I wouldn't. That was why I felt sad.

ANYWAYS.
Today was beautiful. 'Gorgeous' is a better way to describe the weather. Perfectly clear, 75 degrees, no humidity. I took my old bike for a ride. In my bright yellow bumblebee-looking bookbag, I packed a book, a towel, my wallet, and a wrench (I had fixed up my bike myself, so not trusting my handiwork, I packed a wrench for safety measures). I was off -- I explored Shaker parks, the surrounding neighborhoods of luxuriously posh houses with perfectly cut, bright green grass that looked like it could have been transplanted from a golfing green.... and wandered....far.... and found myself mindlessly wandering down Chagrin Blvd towards Trader Joes. The round trip was 20 miles. As I was 10 miles away from home, biking freely and furiously in the warm and radiating sun, I saw a man carrying an old bookbag in the distance, who could pass for looking homeless. Biking on the sidewalk, I moved aside for him to pass.

"MAH FRIEND!"

Holy crap: I slammed on the brakes and quickly looked back. My old friend from Giant Eagle!!!!! It had been a year since I saw that face!

"GOOD TO SEE YOU MAH FRIEND!"

I can't describe to you my thoughts and emotions. I didn't even know what to say to him besides, "HEY!!" and flashed him the biggest, 1000-watt smile I was capable of. The sides of my mouth stretched my cheeks so much that it hurt but I didn't care. My friend from the old Giant Eagle, walking in the sun, and I met up with him a year later on some random street ten miles away. It was good to see him. It turned out that he worked at a Giant Eagle that was only 100 feet away from where I had stopped to greet him. So, that was the new location I had never visited....

We caught up for a mere five minutes (our conversations were always five minutes) and he ended it with, "Very very good to see you, mah friend! You come and visit me, ok?"

I replied smiling, "Okay. I will."

But, I meant it this time.